The Lore of Cantara: Songbound

The Song

Every Murm in Cantara hums along to the song: a quiet music that ties creatures and people together. Anyone with a deep bond can hear it.

Lately the song has been thinning. Bees stay in their hives, the lake has gone quiet, and the broadsheet brings strange news from far away. People call it the quiet.

Then, one morning in Larkvale, the song stumbled.

Elder Hesper gives you one of the last young Murms she could bond, and sends you east to find out why.

Murms and Bonds

Murms never talk. They hum, chirp and show how they feel, and how they feel is the key to everything.

Answer what a Murm feels, and your Sync grows. When you are in tune, it hums along with you. That is a Bond.

Nothing is ever hurt for good. A Murm that is worn out only needs a rest.

ScaredSoothe itSpeak softly and stay close.
AngryCalm itDon't fight its temper. Calm it first.
CuriousOffer a treatCurious ones like a Sweetplum. Slowly, now.
PlayfulPlay a gameChase it and it only runs further. Play instead.

Every Murm has a type, and some beat others. Ember beats Verdant, Verdant beats Tide, and Tide beats Ember. Stone beats Gale, Gale beats Spark, and Spark beats Stone. Take a mix on the road.

Elder Hesper holding Cindle, Sproutle and Puddlit in a basket

Cindle, the little flame. Sproutle, the green sprout. Puddlit, the water drop. The elder's last three young Murms, and one of them already leans toward you.

Larkvale

A warm valley of meadows, farms and orchards, with a lake in the middle and a river running out to the sea. You start in the west at Larkfield and walk east, one small town at a time.

Larkfield
Home: the shrine, the pond, and Pip's map of the whole valley (well, of Larkfield so far).
Dewmeadow Path
Your first wild Murms. Dandewisps drift by at dawn and dusk.
Honeyhollow
A farm hamlet with a bakery, a mill, and bees that won't leave the hive.
Willowrun
The river path. When it rains, the snails come up out of the river grass.
Brightmere
The fishers' lake has gone quiet. At night, something glimmers out on the water.
Blossomford
The orchard town: the market, the inn, the request board, and the ferry that hasn't come.
The Old Orchard
Keeper Bramwell's Sanctum. Walk softly; the trees are listening.
The Singing Stones
Old stones in a ring on the hill. They hum when the wind is still.
Thornreach
The thorny edge of the valley. Murms there are quick to anger.
The Long Road
It runs toward the middle of the land, where the quiet is deeper. Only the most courageous walk it.

At the far end of the Long Road stands the Rehoming Hall, a fortress the Wardens guard. Travellers may rest inside. Its great hall is closed until further notice.

People

Elder Hesper
Larkfield's shrine-keeper, who still half-hears the song. Her own Murms have gone quiet; the young ones she gives away are the last she could bond.
Wynn
Your oldest friend and loudest rival. Bet they reach the Keeper before you do.
Maren and Pip
Your mum and your little sister. Pip reads the broadsheet aloud and draws your map.
Keeper Bramwell
A gardener who never prunes. Let a thing grow its own way, he says, and it sings truer.
The Wardens
White-armoured knights sworn to keep travellers safe between towns, one step at a time.
Wren Ashby
The Wayweaver. He and his apprentices weave threads of the song into paths.
The grey strangers
They stand at the edge of Blossomford, humming. But there's no sound at all.

Murms of Larkvale

Cindle
Ember
Its flame burns brighter when someone it trusts is near.
Sproutle
Verdant
It turns its two leaves toward any friendly voice, like sunlight.
Puddlit
Tide
It hops from puddle to puddle and pouts when the sun dries them up.
Fluffin
Gale
A scared Fluffin puffs up twice its size. A happy one floats a little higher.
Acornhog
Verdant
It buries acorns everywhere and forgets most of them. Little oaks follow it.
Zapkit
Spark
Its ear tufts crackle when it's grumpy. Pet it slowly, from the front.
Dandewisp
Gale
It drifts on the dawn and dusk breezes. Make a wish when one floats by.
Lanternmoth
EmberGale
Its wings glow a warm orange when the sky does.
Bumblefluff
GaleVerdant
It thinks it's a bee. Nobody has the heart to tell it.
Mossback
Stone
It naps in the same spot for years. The moss on its back doesn't mind.
Pebbleotter
Tide
It keeps one favourite pebble and never lets it go, even asleep.
Mushsnail
TideStone
It only comes out in the rain, and leaves a trail of tiny mushrooms behind.
Glimmerfin
TideSpark
It hides from the sun. At night it lights the lake with little sparks.
Cragram
Stone
Its herd sticks together. Its wool is soft, but its horns are stone.
???
Something walks the orchard rows at blossom-time. Hardly anyone has seen it.